


Nighttime Rituals

by rookiehedgewitch



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Cute, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff, Happy, M/M, One Shot, Only one angsty chapter I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23093812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rookiehedgewitch/pseuds/rookiehedgewitch
Summary: Fink, for all her bloodlust and villainy, is still just a child. And children have nightmares.A series of cute oneshots.
Relationships: Lord Boxman/Professor Venomous
Comments: 10
Kudos: 125





	1. Chapter 1

Professor Venomous was exhausted. He didn’t even remember falling asleep that night. Which, if he was being honest with himself, wasn’t out of the ordinary. He rarely ever remembered making the choice to go to bed. Usually, the last thing he remembered each evening was being hunched over his desk, tinkering with some new villainous creation. 

And then he’d wake up the next morning, in bed, hair ruffled and eyes red-rimmed. When this first started happening, shortly after his accident, it had concerned him. Perhaps it had been a side-effect of his experimentation. But it kept happening, and he just got used to it. 

And tonight was just the same. He’d been working on a mechanism to combine his biological experiments with mechanical systems, something Lord Boxman had mentioned at their dinner earlier that week. What a strange man. But Venomous would by lying if he said he didn't find the cyborg intriguing.

And then, the next thing he knew, he was in a darkened room, in bed, awoken by a poke on his hand. His purple-hued eyes squinted up into the dark ceiling of his bedroom. He’d managed to change into his pajamas, so that was nice. Sleeping in a turtleneck was a recipe to wake up sweaty. He much preferred the soft material of the well-worn, faded POINT prep shirt. 

He felt the poke again, and looked down. A pair of big eyes, framed by messy mint-colored hair, peered back at him in the darkness. 

“Fink? Is everything alright?” He asked, rolling onto his side and propping his head up on his palm. The little rodent sniffed, saying nothing.

“Did you have a nightmare?” He sighed. She nodded, her little hand gripping his tight. 

“Come here.” He reached down, and scooped his favorite henchman up, settling her in the warm space next to him. She burrowed into the crook of his arm, her hand still wrapped around his.  
This, too, was a completely ordinary occurrence in Professor Venomous’ Lair. Fink was just a child after all. And children, even children with an impressive knack for villainy, had nightmares. At least once a week she would scurry from her nest down the hall, and poke and prod at Venomous until he woke up and took her into bed with him. 

Venomous closed his eyes, exhausted from his long day of work. But next to him, Fink fidgeted and squirmed. 

“Fink, you’ll be tired if you don’t get enough rest tonight.”

“No I won’t.” She huffed, rolling away from him. Venomous sighed, knowing the little creature was likely still too terrified to sleep. 

So he did what he always did. He brought Fink right next to his chest, and ran his fingers through her bushy mane of hair. Over and over, he brushed the tangles from her hair with a light touch, until her fidgeting stilled, and her breathing became calm and even. 

Professor Venomous remembered going to sleep that night. He remembered his eyes closing, exhaustion pulling at his eyelids. He remembered his heartbeat steadying, matching that of the little rat next to him. And right before he fell asleep, he remembered smiling. 

Things were very good.


	2. Chapter 2

Professor Venomous couldn’t sleep. He had moved into BoxMore weeks ago, but still couldn’t get used to the machinery that thrummed and hummed in the background of his new home. There were so many strange sounds here. Back in his old lair, the only sounds were the occasional whistle of wind, and the pitter patter of Fink’s paws as she ran through the halls. Here there was clanging, and banging, and enough robotic bickering to last a lifetime. Even now, he could hear Raymond and Shannon arguing over Shannon’s human feet. How did Boxman sleep through this?

The villain screwed his eyes shut and rolled to the side, bending his pillow over his ear. But after a few minutes, he found that solution to be lacking. He opened his eyes, and was met with a mop of hair in his face.

“Fink, what are you doing in here?” He sat up, sputtering. He hadn’t even noticed Fink come in and make space for herself on his bed.

“Those stupid robots are too loud, and I can’t sleep.” She huffed. 

“Neither can I.” He sighed, dragging a hand through his dark hair to keep it away from his eyes. He leaned back against the headboard, and Fink scrambled onto his lap. 

“Boss, can’t we go back to our old lair?” She pleaded, her eyes wide. 

“I’m afraid not, unless you want to sleep outside in the rubble.” He chuckled, mussing her hair. 

“I wish there was a way we could shut these dumb baby robots up.” She grumbled. 

“You know,” Venomous grinned, his sharp teeth glinting devilishly, “I think I might know how to do just that. Come with me.” 

“Are we going on a mission?” Fink’s eyes brightened. “Just you and me, without Box-butt?”

“Just you and me. Now let’s go.” The pair crept down the empty halls of BoxMore, careful not to let their footfalls ring too loudly on the metal floors. 

“Here’s a good villainous lesson, Fink. Every building has to get their power from somewhere. When infiltrating a new environment, be sure to locate the power source.” He stopped outside a large door labelled “storage closet.” They needed a tap card to get in, but luckily for him, Boxman was constantly leaving his key cards around the factory. With a tap, the “storage closet” swung open, revealing a large room that was very clearly not a storage closet. At the center of the room was a large red button labeled “Factory power”. Someone had added a post it note above the label with the words “definitely not the button for” written out. 

“Would you do the honors?” Venomous winked. Fink beamed, jumping up and slamming down on the button with her little green paw. 

All the lights in the factory went dead. Venomous brought out the flashlight on his phone, illuminating the path back. 

“Fink, take my hand so you don’t get lost.” He instructed. Immediately, the henchman gripped his hand with both of hers. As they walked through the darkened halls, Venomous couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was. No more clanging and banging of machinery, no more robotic bickering. Just the whistle of the wind outside, and the pitter patter of Fink’s paws. 

“You know, before we go back to bed, why don’t we get a snack?” He said, changing course. He didn't come down for dinner that night. He wasn't entirely sure why he'd missed dinner, he couldn't remember. He was probably just lost in thought on a new project.

Venomous was half-startled to see Darrell at the kitchen table. But when they rounded the table to look at him, his eye was dark.

“Will he be ok?” Fink asked, before adding. “Not that I care.”

“He’ll be fine.” Venomous patted her head, before turning to the fridge. If he’d been half-startled by Darrell before, he was fully startled by a plate of food, seran-wrapped, in the fridge with his name scrawled on a post it note on top. The writing on the note matched the writing on the button, and read “for P.V., when you get hungry - Boxy.” 

A pang of guilt washed over Venomous, which was yet another surprise. As a villain, he almost never felt guilt. That was what made villains, villains, after all. But Boxman had been a generous host. He’d given Fink and him rooms, shared his dastardly plans, and had even saved dinner. 

And how had Venomous repaid him? By shutting Boxman’s entire factory, including his robot children, off. This would set production back hours, and ruin sales for the week.

Venomous shook his guilty away. He took the plate of food, and plucked Fink off the table, where she’d been scribbling on Darrell’s face and snickering. Back in his room, Fink curled back up on a pillow, sighing happily as Venomous braided her hair out of her face. Before not too long, she was out cold, her little tail twitching in her sleep. Venomous unwrapped the food, and ate slowly, the cold food reminding him sourly of what an ungrateful guest he’d been. 

With a groan, he dragged a hand down his face. It almost disgusted him how guilty he felt. He kept imagining Boxman’s face when he found out what had happened. Not able to take it any longer, he set the empty plate down, and then plodded off back down the halls.

“Partnership is overrated.” Venomous spoke to himself, and pressed the button. The lights flickered back on, and in the distance, he could hear the clanging and banging resume. But when Venomous returned to his room, and crawled back into bed next to his minion, he found that the sound wasn’t so bad after all. 

Things were different. But they were still good.


	3. Chapter 3

Professor Venomous was gone. He’d relinquished control to Shadowy. Whether willingly or reluctantly, Lord Boxman didn’t know. He liked to think that it had been reluctantly. Venomous wouldn’t have been strong enough to resist Shadowy. He knew P.V. would hate him for saying that, but it was true. And it was ok. 

Boxman could only begin to understand his partner’s yearning for power, but he didn’t understand how Venomous couldn’t see how powerful he already was. Perhaps save Cosma, Professor Venomous was the most powerful villain on this planet. Even without Shadowy. Boxman just wished he could have done something to help Professor Venomous see that before. And now it was too late. 

Boxman shut off the lights to his office, not that he had anything to do in there anymore, and made his way down the ruined halls of his once beautiful factory. He tried not to focus on the severed pieces of his robotic children that littered the hall. He knew they were in their rooms, likely cowering, hoping TKO didn’t decide to pay them a visit. But it was still painful to know that Venomous himself had destroyed countless scores of Boxman’s creations. 

He slumped down onto his bed, exhausted from the stress of that day, and the day before that, and the day before that. In the background, he heard loud, heavy metal music blasting through the factory. He could even feel the bass drum vibrate through him. 

Boxman couldn’t believe Shadowy and Professor Venomous were the same person. The Professor Venomous that Lord Boxman knew would never play this kind of music. He liked Classical music, or Jazz. Boxman’s mind drifted to memories of the evenings they spent together drawing up new plans to commit petty violence. Eventually, Professor Venomous would switch on some classical tune to accompany their scheming, or even make them tea. In those evenings, Boxman got to see a different side of Venomous. Soft, caring, and surprisingly silly. He missed that man. 

The man sighed, drawing his legs closer to him, resigning to his fate. Then there was a knock on his door. Boxman froze. This couldn’t be Shadowy or TKO: neither one of them would knock. They would simply break the door down. However, he was still hesitant as he crept across the room, sliding the door open just a crack. 

“Fink, what are you doing here?” He stammered, startled to see the henchman standing in the hall. Her face was turned downwards, but Boxman could see her shaking.

“Let me through, I’m sleeping in here tonight.” She announced, but with none of her usual brash confidence. 

“O-ok.” He stepped back, allowing her through. She stomped over to the leather chair in the corner, dragging a blanket with her. Boxman watched in curious silence as she made a nest in the chair, so only a little tuft of green hair was visible. 

“You know,” he said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “If something happened, you can always talk to me.” 

“Nothing happened. TKO and Shadowy are too loud.” She yelled. 

“Ok. Well, goodnight Fink.” He said, turning back to his bed. He flipped off the light, and closed his eyes. He heard agitated huffing and fidgeting from the corner of his room, which finally turned to one muffled sob. 

“TKO broke my room!” She cried, her voice high and squeaky. “He-he destroyed all my toys and my TV and my bed, and-and Shadowy just laughed. Boss would never have let that happen.” Boxman hadn’t really considered the small rat girl in all this. He would have assumed that she would be on board with her boss’ transformation, given her general bloodlust and desire for chaos. But Boxman had overestimated her. When he turned the lights on, he saw her: a child, wrapped in her blanket, crying over a father that had abandoned her. 

“I’m so sorry Fink. Is there something I can do?” He asked. While he could recognize her fear and hurt, his children were robots, he had very little experience in comforting organic lifeforms. 

“Boss used to let me stay in his bed when I had nightmares.” She sniffed, trying not to look hopeful. 

“Well, then, why don’t you come over here.” He patted the space next to him, and in an instant, the girl had scrambled up into bed. 

“Here, why don’t you take these.” He reached into his dresser and retrieved a pair of headphones. “They’ll block out the sound of the music.”   
Boxman settled the headphones over Fink’s ears, and patted her hair. Her eyelids grew heavy, and the little creature settled into the bed. Boxman lay down next to her, staring up at the ceiling. There was something comforting in having her beside him. An acknowledgment that he wasn’t the only one who was suffering. 

“Boxboss?” She squeaked. 

“Yes?” He replied into the darkness. 

“Will Professor Venomous ever come back?” 

“I like to think he will. For us.” The answer was good enough for Fink, who dozed off and began snoring lightly. And soon Boxman fell asleep as well, feeling badly that he’d lied. He didn’t know if Venomous, his Venomous would ever come back. 

Things were not good.


	4. Chapter 4

Professor Venomous was happy. Actually, happy was putting it lightly. He was ecstatic, and he felt like he had no right to feel that way. He’d tried to destroy the world, after all. Venomous had manipulated his son into hurting his friends and family. Venomous had pushed away all those that were important to him - Boxman, Fink, even KO. Venomous had spent the last few years destroying a world made just for him to destroy. Did that sound like the kind of person who deserved to be happy?

By all means, he deserved to be hated for his actions. But he had been forgiven. 

Fink didn’t need convincing, but he still felt he needed to give her the world, because she was his. 

And when he’d arrived at Boxman’s cottage with a truly terrible tasting cake and a half-written apology, he’d been forgiven immediately. 

The kids were harder to convince. But after a year of perfect behavior, of commitment to showing them that he was truly apologetic, of showering their father in constant love and affection, the robots were back to calling Venomous “Stepdaddy”. 

KO, too, was difficult to convince, and Venomous wasn’t pretty sure that they’d ever have a normal relationship. But he tried. He swung by the bodega once a week, not to destroy it, but to pay KO a quick visit. Birthdays and holidays were limited to a card and a present, because Carol didn’t want anything to do with Venomous. Which made sense. He’d wronged her the most, and the kindest thing he could do was just leave her to her happy life. 

And after years of trying to proving to them that he was rid of hunger for power, and was content to be a petty villain, Venomous found himself surrounded by love. The Boxmore factory had turned into a true home. Photos of their blended, bizarre family lined the walls. Arts and crafts covered the tables, and there was almost always some sweet treat that he and Fink made in the fridge. He was going to get fat and complacent with all this familial affection. He didn’t mind.

“Goodnight PV.” Venomous snapped out of his reverie, smiling at the sight of the man beside him. Boxman was nestled under the covers of their bed, his hair pushed away from his face by a hairband. 

“You know what, I think I’ll go to bed too. These schemes can wait.” Venomous leaned down, and pecked his fiancee on the forehead. He settled into bed, resting his head against Boxman’s shoulder. 

“Do you mind picking up the kids from work tomorrow? I promised Fink I would help out with the bake sale for her videos game team.” The stout man said, running his hand through Venomous’ dark hair. Venomous closed his eyes, surrendering to the tenderness of the touch. 

“I can pick them up.” Venomous yawned, finding his fiancee’s hand and squeezing it. They rested like that for a while, with Boxman running his human hand through Venomous’ hair, and Venomous playing idly with the engagement ring on Boxman’s finger, until they grew heavy and tired.

Venomous was half asleep when a familiar poke at his hand roused him. 

“Hey, boss.” He cracked an eye open to find Fink peering up at him. 

“Is everything alright Fink?” He whispered, trying not to wake Boxman. 

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” She whispered, looking very sheepish. 

“Sure thing, kiddo.” He smiled, scooping her up. 

“You’re spoiling her, you know.” Boxman said. His eyes were closed, but he was smiling. 

“I know. But how can I say no?” He said, booping Fink on the nose.

“Goodnight Fink.” Boxman smiled, scratching the little rat under the chin.

“Goodnight Boxdad, Goodnight Bossdad.” Fink said, slurring her words as sleep rapidly overtook her. Venomous and Boxmore stared at each other over the sleeping child, their eyes wide. 

“Did she just-” Venomous whispered. In all these years, Fink had resisted calling either one of them “dad”. Even after dropping serious hints that it was ok, she still insisted on calling them both boss. Looking over at his partner, it was clear to Venomous that Boxman was about minutes away from exploding with joy, which would likely result in the man running through the halls, screaming with delight. That couldn’t be, Fink would never call them dads after that. 

“Don’t!” He hissed in a whisper, grabbing Boxman's arm to still the man's jittering. “Don’t make a big deal out of it. Play it cool.” Boxman nodded, but his eyes were brimming with tears.

“Playing it cool” had never been the man’s strong suit.

“Are you crying?” Venomous squeaked, feeling his emotions prick under his skin. “You know when you cry, I cry.” And soon, they found each other weeping, quietly, with joy. 

"I can hear you, you know." They both jumped at the sound of Fink's voice. Venomous looked down through his blurry vision, seeing Fink crack one eye open.

In an instant, both men were squeezing the rat into a tight hug. "I love you so much Fink." Venomous cried.

"You've gone soft, you big dork." The rat scoffed. "And it's all thanks to Box-butt. Now let go." Venomous did as told, quieting his tears to the occasional sniffle. Boxman chuckled, giving each person a kiss on the forehead, before finally settling down to sleep. Venomous followed his fiancee's actions, settling back down into bed. But when he had just about fallen asleep, he felt Fink wrap her arms around him, and squeeze him tight.

"I love you too, dad." She whispered. The villain, although he was pretty sure he didn't qualify as a villain anymore, wrapped his arms around his daughter, and held her close.

Things were good. Very good.


End file.
